Independence of the Seas Review
Very good but had visions of Torremolinos on the sea.
Rating by category
Additional details
This was our first cruise, we were a family of 7, two grandparents with our son and daughter in law and three grand/step grandchildren. Arrival at the port was really easy, we arrived early but went straight onto the ship and it was all so easy. We had lunch in the Windjammer and then went to our stateroom which was very adequate with more storage place than I imagined and it turned out to be a very comfortable room for the two weeks.
We have a holiday every year at top end venues and I have to say two weeks on the Independence of the seas left me finding it difficult to have any criticism. There were times when things were less than good but every time senior staf fixed the problem immediately.
To cut this review to the important bits these are some of the good bits:
Cabin Review
Family Oceanview Stateroom
Very good, comfortable bed, very clean. Large enough and good storage facilities. Our room attendant Ayi Kholik was superb. Twice daily service always early and never intrusive. Could not fault the room in any way.
Port Reviews
Gibraltar
We took a private taxi for the seven of us and had a great tour of Gibraltar
Nice
Walked ashore and enjoyed the local village. That was not Nice which was a little way off
Florence (Livorno)
We pre booked a private tour for the seven of us and had a great private tour of Rome.
Toulon
Not the best of stops
Malaga
Walked ashore ok so no need to pay for a tour.
Lisbon
Took the shuttle into town though it took the first 30 min turning around as the road system was terribly designed.
Rome (Civitavecchia)
We pre booked a private tour for tea seven of us which was superb and lower cost that the ship price.
Southampton
Very smooth, we arrived really early and parked and went straight on board. Not sure why we were told to arrive hours later.